Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I know, for Obi-Swan's Padawan over there, it is a complex sort of thing for him to understand, because in the Labor Party they haven't had a surplus since 1989. When you go into surplus, it means you're able to reduce debt. That's what's happening. What I have said is that, in the 2019-20 budget, the budget is coming into surplus this year, which means that we are able to pay down debt. In 2019-20 we did not put up taxes. We actually delivered, again, generational tax relief for Australians.

Those opposite were saying very clearly at the last election that they thought the remedy to the challenges the Australian economy was facing was to load it up with $387 billion of higher taxes on the Australian people. We don't share that view. We share the view that Australians should keep more of what they earn. What I said very plainly is: in our budget, we are delivering record funding for schools, we are delivering record funding for hospitals, we are fully funding the NDIS and we are doing that in our budget without increasing the debt and we're doing it without increasing taxes and with responsible financial management.

I understand responsible financial management is a complete mystery to those who sit on the other side. The Australian people do not trust Labor with their money. We know that the Australian people know that, when Labor run out of their own money, they come into the pockets of the Australian people. They know that Labor cannot be trusted with money, and we have demonstrated time and again that only the Liberals and Nationals can be trusted with the finances of this nation, to ensure we can guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on. Labor make all sorts of promises, but they write cheques that their own poor financial management can never cash.

See this speech in context